For the Diana 4 we will be using a landing gear that is slightly smaller than the one we used for the JS3 – it’s a bit shorter and we’re using a 89mm rather than a 104mm wheel. The reason is that we’ve been using landing gears that were developed within our club and produced externally well over two decades ago. We’re now on the last of our stock and only have just enough smaller ones left for the three Diana 4 that we’re building.

Using a small milling tool made by a club colleague I cut out the landing gear doors and did a dry fit of the gear and the frames to hold the gear and the towhook (made out of 4mm plywood).

Last week I also produced the seat of the Diana 4, using a mould that we made for the JS3. After waxing the mould I covered it with thickened and coloured epoxy resin. Let it settle for a few hours and then put on two layers of 160gr glass. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to let the thickened epoxy rest long enough before adding the glass, so there are quite a few airpockets in the seat. I filled most of them today with some excess epoxy with micro-balloons. I’ll spray it with filler and then gray paint later, so the pockets will not be visible.